I really hope they release Steam OS for everyone soon. I'd love to install it on my laptop, currently running ChimeraOS which is functionally very similar, but would love to have the stuff like tdp control working in the overlays too without needing third party tools or workarounds.

Now we just need an open source steam client and they will be the literal proof that companies can contribute to GNU/Linux and still stay on top.

So awesome they run a monopoly on videogames through their useless closed source spyware.

I noticed that wine/dxvk/proton works better than many native Linux versions. This is usually because the game studio does not think Linux is a priority and ships a half-assed implementation. Better to use the optimized version through wine/proton/dxvk.

I just want games officially supported for proton. Linux ABI is still way too inconsistent compared to Wines, and a bitch to work with. Not to mention, performance tends to be better on proton games lol.

The post says ~42 % is Steam OS

Actually its only 44% steam decks!

@cipherlab @pnutzh4x0r Nonetheless, it's quite the achievement. That's exactly what Linux needs: visible, tangible and reputable hardware that's ostensibly better than the competition. It's great to be flexible, but you still need to have a face.

Less than that though they are a large slice.

Most Windows and practically all Mac instances are preinstalled by the hardware vendor. There are very few companies selling preinstalled Linux gaming machines other than the Steam Deck. I expect they might be a majority of new Linux steam users for some time as they are by far the lowest entry cost in terms of hardware, prerequisite technical knowledge and time.

Many gamers who dabble with Linux are still taking the path of least resistance and dual booting for gaming. Linux first people like myself will continue to grow in number but as long as it is a DIY thing realistically we will always be a few percent at best as most people want a simpler out of box gaming experience.

Due to the steam summer sale perhaps?

I found way to many Linux gamers in the wild. So no, they are not Steam Decks.

The day win10 stops being supported is the day I switch to Linux

If the games you are playing don't run on linux than you are mostly playing crap designed by people who's main goal is to empty your pockets and who think that you are stupid

It automatically uses Proton for titles that Valve has whitelisted as compatible. To play anything else you need to check a box in the settings. Honestly, it should probably just be checked by default.

I think enabling steam compatibility for all titles do exactly that?

man, I missed it! Is it still going on?

I used to check winehq or protondb before buying games. I don't do that anymore because everything just works in Linux these days.

It does, but as a result we can now set up Linux on other machines and play a huge range of games. This removes one of the main obstacles for many people with Linux.

Love the Deck. I actually finish games with retro or pixel art aesthics with the deck compared to my PC or consoles. The pick up and go aspect and the smaller screen helps me keep coming back to it instead of abandoning it.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Great that Linux is getting more representation overall though. Wonder how anti-cheat implementations work nowadays, I remember them not being supported on Linux before, so games didn't run.

On the same boat, I would gladly change, but most of my collaborators still use software you can only use on windows, I could use VMs or emulators, but it usually breaks my workflow anyway.

How does NixOS compare to SteamOS on the Deck? Does it work just as smooth? Also, is EMUDeck compatible with NixOS?

What is Garuda? Quickly googling didn't help me for some reason

Is Pop OS the new "I use Arch" meme? I see people mentioning it almost everywhere linux is talked about.

Steam still runs on Rosetta2. They just gave up and aren't even trying anymore, probably thanks to apples hostility to them and no Vulkan

What happened in April and March?

Ask yourself why is not perfect

Why isn't anyone talking about how much this link is exaggerating all of it's points? Did anyone read it? Disclaimer: I use steam and I take the good with the bad.

It collects your address, CC info, name etc -- It's an online store. You give it this info to purchase things. It's quite clear why this is happening. Don't like it? Don't shop online. Actually, don't use a credit/debit card at all because they are certainly recording your spending habits and selling that data.

t was proven that Steam's VAC system records your internet history and uploads it to an official Valve server -- This claim is from a Reddit thread. These redditors reverse engineered some VAC stuff (anticheat for some games like Counterstrike) and found that Steam was (and may no longer be) hashing visited URLS. These hashes were checked locally (within the software, not over the internet) against a list of known hashes for URLS for cheat software. If positive, these hashes were sent over the internet to valve, and could be used for evidence to ban cheaters. This is bad! It is recording user's internet habits without their knowledge or consent. HOWEVER, it is a total exaggeration to claim Valve is just recording all your internet history and sending it to a server somewhere. Could they do it? This is a risk for closed-sourced software but this isn't what was happening.

Steam records and publicly broadcasts your program usage habits -- Steam does track your program use habits and this is bad! Every console does this now, though, unless you decide to not connect it to the internet. But this site also claims it does it publicly and this is an exaggeration: You are anonymous on steam to the "public" unless you de-anonymize yourself, and you can turn off your "public" broadcast of game play in the settings. The author seems to think steam is a social media network: It only is if you use it that way. It doesn't recommend friends to you or send you news articles or whatever.

Steam attempts to collect your telephone number -- Account theft is a problem on steam. The phone number thing is a way they can implement two-factor for people allergic to learning how to secure their accounts (some people on steam are also children, I must point out). This makes their platform harder for scammers to use. I use their phone app for two-factor authentication, I don't know if they accept other 3rd party authenticators.

Steam requires an internet connection etc It's an online storefront program???? You knew what you were getting into when you downloaded it. I don't like how it needs to be constantly connected, this is bad, true.

Steam is self-updating software -- It's DRM yes, true. It's annoying, sure.

Yes, I totally get it, I could live in the woods, just use cash to purchase everything and only play unpatched games on offline consoles I don't connect to the internet. Don't all AAA games come with some form of DRM these days? Does the person who wrote this article also avoid streaming services and digital cable because it also records your entertainment habits? Do you, @[email protected]? Are you addicted to streaming services and debit cards?

Anyway, this is a ridiculous burden for the consumer to avoid all this. That's my point. If you'd like this to change, it needs legislation to restrict what corporations do with our data, not SCARY CAPS LOCK IN RED TEXT.

How about letting people enjoy things? If you don't want to play games or have access to the biggest gaming library there is currently, then it's fine, won't blame you. People have the freedom to decide if they want to limit their privacy a bit (while things stated on that website like credit card, address, browsing history, chat logs and forum posts are like: no shit, they sell games, have an internal browser and chats and forums, of course they do that. And with that defenition, you are currently as well on a spyware platform, because your posts are saved unencrypted on your homeserver) to have access to their games where some have invested A LOT of money in, before knowing about such things.

Cool article, but it bases most of its claims off Valve’s ToS for steam, their privacy policy, and an old Reddit post that has multiple people disputing its claims in comments. So no actual traffic snooping or any individual research into what the application is actually doing.

Yea they’re definitely going to store purchase-related information (Name, Address, Cc info, etc.), just about every digital storefront does. Where’s the actual danger at?